Over Bourbon
by Megeen
Summary: "You spent your 36-hour on-call shift in jail?" How 2x09 (may have) led to 2x10.


"You spent your 36-hour on-call shift in jail?" The bourbon was flowing freely while Neil and Audrey shared stories about past screwups after Andrews had screwed them over.

"I spent part of the shift in traffic court. I was only in jail for a couple of hours. And it wasn't exactly planned," Audrey poked him because she was buzzed and feeling flirty and because Andrews had screwed them over.

He was smiling that wide smile that infuriated her but was also secretly alluring. "Don't make me regret telling you that," she laughed, and a moment of doubt flashed through her eyes. They'd both lost out on the chief position but that didn't mean that it wouldn't come up in the future or that they weren't still in competition with each other.

Neil was still snickering, but he wasn't so drunk that he didn't catch on to her trepidation, so he opted for sincere. "It's ok. Nothing happened. You did the surgery when it counted. We all screw up, but you didn't so why would I tell anyone?"

"Good," Audrey smiled, satisfied, and took another sip of her glass.

"But seriously, are you that much of a control and adrenaline junkie?" Neil asked. Her motorcycling, speeding, her nerves of steel in surgery… He'd learned more and more about Audrey and had to reevaluate his opinion about her several times since they met in residency. She was still smart and a damn good surgeon, but she wasn't kind of weird; she took risks he wouldn't and yet she seemed totally focused and in control. Except when she argued stupidly with a judge like she thought she was invincible.

"You're one to talk," she smirked. "You love the thrill of surgery. And control? Please!"

"Oh, I know, that's kind of what I'm saying," he clinked their glasses and took another sip of his glass. "Don't worry, in my book, you didn't screw up so I would be a petty fool for trying to undermine you with something like that." She snickered, convinced by that reasoning.

"But I am surprised. You usually don't let temper get away from you, especially when it counts. You yell at me when I piss you off, sure, but that's because I like to get a rise out of you on purpose." She looked at him surprised that he admitted it outright, and Neil smirked back because why bother denying the obvious? "Seriously, you have this crazy level of focus. It's kind of annoying. That's why I had to get my act together in residency."

"You had to get your act together because you were a hothead and totally full of yourself," Audrey rolled her eyes and grinned remembering him talking back to Glassman during surgery. "You were so insufferable. Still are," she winked at him. "But not all the time."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he grinned back. Audrey laughed because of course he would, but she'd kind of set him up for that.

They had both really come a long way; she'd come to appreciate that you could have fun while being determined and he'd become a better judge of situations and a good mentor along with it. They'd really learned to respect each other and become friends even, with a spark of something more. Who would've guessed that those things could grow on a foundation of competitiveness?

They nursed their glasses in companionable silence and glanced around the bar, which had started to clear out. "Want to continue this back at your place?" Audrey asked and looked straight at Neil. After a day like today, they absolutely deserved to let off steam, and even if he said no, she could chalk it up to an attempt to throw him for a loop.

Neil stared back at her, finally caught off-guard. She held his gaze and smirked; coy smiles were not her thing, so she raised her eyebrows to give him time to read what she was saying beyond a doubt.

Neil finally raised his glass in approval and drowned the last gulp, using it simultaneously to conceal how impressed he was by her boldness. And how turned on.

The moment he'd made his decision, Audrey flagged down the bar tender so they could settle the tab and got out her phone to request a ride because neither of them was in any position to drive.

"Lead the way."


End file.
